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Panthers Mailbag: 12.25.09

Welcome to the second Panthers Mailbag of the season, a feature that can be found only on floridapanthers.com.

Questions from around the world came in for our players and coaching staff so look below to see if your question was answered. If not, don't worry, it could be answered in future mailbags. And if you haven't submitted a question or would like to, just fill out the form found on this page.

Questions can be found in bold. And if something needs additional commentary or clarification, it will come in italics before the player provides his answer.

And away we go. Again.

Question for Peter DeBoer - I know we don't have any superstar goal scorer but we definitly have proven goal scorers. What do you attribute the lack of scoring by some of the scorers from last year to?

Don Kaye - Sunrise FL

DeBoer - "We've had some guys off to some slow starts offensively, at least in the depth of our lineup. The nice thing is that the top line guys, the Weiss', the Horton's have made up for that. If we can keep having Weiss and Horton going, I know that depth scoring is going to come. We've got too many good players throughout our line-up for those guys not to start to produce. When they do, we'll be a tough team."

Question for Dmitry Kulikov - Which player on the team are you closest to?

"I think it's going really well (laughing). We do stuff together. We're cooking dinners, mostly he's cooking (laughing) and I'm just eating, but I think it's going well. It's a big change for me that i'm living with an experienced guy. He knows what to do. He knows how to prepare for the games and I'm kind of learning stuff from him and I think it's good for me."

Question for Michael Frolik - Do the Czech players spend time together outside of practice or game times? Do you feel at home yet in Florida?

Gerry Negreira - Orlando, FL

Frolik - "We all live near one another but I think I spend a lot of my time with Rusty (Rostislav Olesz). He lives like two minutes away from my house. His wife and my girlfriend are really good friends so we spend a lot of time with each other."

"Home is home in the Czech Republic. For me I don't think thatt's going to change, but I like Florida. It's awesome. It's nice the whole year. Everyone likes it."

Question for Nathan Horton - Can you see yourself spending your entire career with the Panthers?

Tomek Kowal - Trowbridge, England

Horton - "It would be nice. I like it a lot here. I'm happy to be here. If we continue to keep winning, it's going to get even more fun to play in Florida."

Question for Radek Dvorak - How does it feel to play over 1,000 games in your NHL career?

Grant Lee - Coconut Creek, FL

Dvorak - "It's been a pleasure. I'm enjoying every game. It's been a long time.

"You can see that time just flies. It's been 14 years since I've played my first game and next thing you know it's 1,000 games behind me. I'm enjoying every game. Hopefully i have a lot of games left. It's been a great journey and a continued journey."

Follow Up: How was the ceremony?

"It was beautiful. Every time somebody has a 1,000 game ceremony, you watch the ceremony on the tv and you picture yourself having the same thing. It was great. The whole orgainzation, the guys. It was something to remember, seeing your family on the ice, it's special."

Second Follow Up: Was it more special that happened while you were with the team that drafted you?

"Yeah and against the team that you played for. It was nice. When I started, the Panthers gave me a chance to play in the NHL, it's nice to celebrate your 1000th game with your first team and against the Edmonton Oilers. Both teams I played for in the Stanley Cup finals so it was neat and special."

"I was probably three or four when I first started to skate and I probably started playing organized hockey not long after that."

Follow Up: Any words of advice for young skaters out there?

"The best advice I have is to get out there and start skating. If you love the game and want to pursue it, it takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication and certainly a lot of practice if you want to get to this level. But it's a great game.

"You develop a lot of friendships playing as kids and growing up with it. I'm still buddies with guys that i played with at a young age. It's a real good game to get in to."